Students, faculty and staff who remained on campus during Hurricane Gustav found 459 Commons open and serving three meals a day — free of charge.
Students and essential personnel were issued emergency dining cards in the days following Gustav, and the card allowed them to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7 a.m.
Tuesday until it expired 7 p.m. Sunday. The University hopes the cost of the meals is reimbursed by FEMA — at about $35,000 per day, said Jason Tolliver, contracted auxiliary services director.
A system using emergency dining cards was implemented to ensure only students, faculty and staff were fed in the dining hall, Tolliver said.
Tolliver said each card cost about 22 cents to make and about 8,700 cards were distributed.
“Students will not be billed for meals,” he said. “We have to have a system in place since we are an open campus.”
The meals were paid for courtesy of LSU Dining, but the cost of meals served under similar situations following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 were reimbursed by FEMA, Tolliver said.
Tolliver said more than 19,000 meals were served.
“It was pretty packed,” said Nicholas Zeimetz, business management freshman. “But the line moved pretty quick.”
The sudden influx of diners was offset by the large number of student volunteers, Heidke said.
“Our ability to do what we did for the students and everyone on campus could not have been done if it wasn’t for a tremendous turnout of student volunteers,” Heidke said.
The volunteers helped serve food and take care of the dining area, Heidke said.
“I was pleased. I didn’t think it would be that fast,” Zeimetz said.
Heidke said 459 Commons went into a “limited serving program” to ensure there was enough food for everyone. He said each visitor to the dining hall was provided with a entree and a vegetable instead of the usual “all you can eat” menu.
Mike Pickering, French and political science senior, said he went to 459 Commons three times and left each time because the line was too long, and the meals appeared meager.
Pickering said meals consisted of “a piece of ham or a piece of fish, a small serving of vegetables and a small serving of french fries.”
 
 
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Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]